


Haruka's Secret

by Akino_Kasumi



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, married OTP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-31 16:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akino_Kasumi/pseuds/Akino_Kasumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gang gathers for dinner at Haruka's place, and Nagisa finds an essay about Haruka that Makoto wrote in elementary school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haruka's Secret

**Author's Note:**

> So I read that Makoto's best subject is literature...

“Haru-chan, Haru-chan! What’s this?” Nagisa bounces into the room, waving something in his hand.

“Nagisa-kun! You shouldn’t be touching other people’s belongings without their permission!”

“Eh? It’s okay, right? Since it’s Haru-chan!” Nagisa ignores Rei, bouncing his way into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, Haruka-senpai... I couldn’t stop him.” He directs a pointed look at Nagisa, who continues to ignore him.

“It’s fine.” Haruka replies stoically, focused on grilling his dinner.

“See, Rei -chan! Don’t be such a stick in the mud all the time!” Nagisa waves the thing in his hand, large round eyes twinkling. “Now, let’s see what’s in here...”

Rei huffs in resignation.

Makoto chuckles as he continues to prepare the table for dinner, but stops as he notices blue eyes widen slightly the brief moment Haruka steals a glance at the item that Nagisa is holding.

 _Haru?_ He raises his hand in a gesture to stop Nagisa. “N-Nagisa, maybe you shouldn’t...”

Nagisa holds up the brown exercise book in the air and squints at the faded characters written on the cover page. “Tachibana... Ah!”

Rei jumps as Nagisa suddenly raises his voice. “Nagisa-kun!”

 “It has Mako-chan’s name on it!”

“Eh?” Makoto pauses.

Rei pushes his glasses up his nose and moves closer to inspect the book, curious. “I thought you found this in Haruka-senpai’s room.”

Makoto glances over at Haruka, whose shoulders seem to stiffen slightly, but he keeps his attention on the mackerel.

Makoto has difficulty seeing what Nagisa is holding from where he is, so he puts down the chopsticks he is holding and walks over to the two. Emerald eyes widen in surprise. “This is...”

“Ehh~ Amazing! These grades are really good! Mako-chan, did you write all these essays?” Nagisa asks as he flips through the exercise book.

“Aww, this one’s not graded...”

“You’re only looking at the grades, Nagisa-kun...” Rei mutters.

“Oi. What are you all looking at?” Rin, previously focused on the shark documentary on TV, decides to join them in the kitchen. He peers over Nagisa’s shoulder as the book is flipped to a page with a dolphin bookmark.

“Rin-chan! Do you want to see?” Nagisa offers.

Rin raises his eyebrow as he takes the book from Nagisa. “What is this?”

“Huh? Rin-chan, you can’t read Japanese?”

“...Are you insulting me? This thing is just elementary school level, isn’t it?”

“Read it for us!” Nagisa looks at him expectantly.

He sighs and absentmindedly starts to read from the page in a monotonous voice. “His name is Nanase Haruka. Haru-cha— _The hell!_ I am not reading this!”

Nagisa gasps. “It’s an essay about Haru-chan? Rin-chan~ Read it, read it!” He urges, nuzzling Rin.

“No!” Rin shoots a glare at Rei.

 _Why me!?_ “Nagisa-kun! Stop bothering Rin-san! Just read it yourself!”

“Ehh~ But I don’t want to! That’s no fun!” Nagisa pouts, large round eyes pleading.

Rin clicks his tongue. “Makoto!” He shoves the book towards Makoto.

“E—Eh?” Makoto has been wondering about something else instead of paying attention.

“Makoto. Help me get the plates.”

“A—Ah.” Makoto turns to Haruka, then back to the other three. “Dinner’s almost ready. Why don’t you all read it while you wait outside?” He smiles apologetically.

“Okay~” Nagisa agrees, and they proceed to sit at the dinner table.

Makoto glances at Haruka as he passes him the plates. Haruka doesn’t look at him.

From the kitchen, they can hear Rei’s voice. His eyes widen. Makoto remembers the essay he wrote years ago in elementary school. They were supposed to write an essay describing a person they liked. Of course, he wrote about Haru...

_His name is Nanase Haruka. Haru-chan and I grew up in this town together. Haru-chan has soft black hair and bright blue eyes. Haru-chan loves the water very much. His favorite food is mackerel._

_Haru-chan is amazing. He is really good at drawing and handicrafts. Haru-chan swims really well. Haru-chan's swimming reminds me of a dolphin and it's always beautiful. I’m happy when Haru-chan is swimming happily. It makes me feel warm inside. I feel the happiest when I get to swim with Haru-chan._

_I like walking beside Haru-chan. We go to school and the swim club together. Sometimes on the way home we would buy a popsicle and split it. The soda flavored popsicle always tastes better when I’m sharing it with Haru-chan. We also visit each other’s house to play since we live really close._

_Although Haru-chan is usually curt he's actually really nice. Haru-chan holds my hand and lets me hide behind him when I’m scared. Even though I’m a scaredy-cat, Haru-chan never makes fun of me. I feel relaxed and happy when I’m with Haru-chan._

_I hope Haru-chan and I can always be together, because Haru-chan is my favorite person in the world._

Makoto glances sideways at Haruka, slightly flustered. _I wrote this a long time ago, but..._ His train of thought is suddenly stopped when he sees the small smile on the other’s lips, but it doesn’t last long because Haruka immediately turns his head away when he catches Makoto staring.

“...Aww, Mako-chan, you're so sweet!" Nagisa exclaims, smiling widely as Rei finishes reading.

“I think it’s beautiful.” Rei can’t help but smile as well. “When did you write this, Makoto-senpai?”

“It was a long time ago...” Makoto replies as he settles the plates down, smiling fondly.

“And I thought I’m supposed to be the romantic here, _Mako-chan._ ” Rin grins teasingly.

“Rin! T—That’s not—”

"It's great!" Nagisa flips the page back and forth curiously. "But why's it not graded?"

“W—Well...”

Before Makoto can reply him, Haruka interrupts, taking the book from Nagisa. “Dinner,” He says simply. Nagisa grins, while Rin looks at Haruka and smirks.

* * *

 

Rei, Nagisa and Rin only stay for a while after dinner before heading home since it’s late. Makoto stays behind to help clear the dishes. Haruka washes the dishes while Makoto dries them.

Haruka hasn’t met his gaze throughout dinner. Makoto doesn’t have to guess to know that it’s because of the composition book Nagisa found, the one he thought he lost years ago. What should he say?

“Na, Haru.” He glances at the other.

“Hm?” Haruka answers without looking at him.

“Did you read it? The essay I wrote about Haru. I mean, before today...” He internally slaps himself. Haru has obviously read it. He even bookmarked the page.

“Yeah.”

“You kept it. My exercise book. I thought I’d lost it.”

Makoto notices the light blush forming on the other’s cheeks.

“...It’s mine.”

Makoto blinks.

“It’s an essay about me, so it’s mine.”  Haruka turns away, pouting. “It doesn’t matter, right? You wrote it a long time ago anyway. You said so yourself.”

“Well...” Makoto scratches his cheek. He can’t help but smile. “I wrote this a long time ago but... Haru, you know...”

There are so many things about Haruka that Makoto likes. He has always enjoyed spending casual days with Haru, whether they're swimming together with their friends, doing homework at one of their homes, shopping for household supplies, playing with Ran and Ren, walking home or to school together... He appreciates every day that is spent with Haru.

Finally Haruka doesn’t avoid Makoto’s gaze. He looks at Makoto, unwavering blue gaze urging him to carry on. Makoto smiles, a familiar warmth filling his chest. He takes a deep breath and exhales.  

“You know... Between then and now, my feelings have never changed.”

 _I know._ Haruka returns the smile. He doesn’t need to say a word for Makoto to hear him.

“I hope Haru and I can always be together, because Haru is my favorite person in the world.” Makoto quotes his own words.

“...You forgot the –chan.” Haruka mutters, before mentally berating himself. Makoto chuckles, which earns him a glare from Haruka.  

“...Makoto.”

“Hm?”

 “Stay over tonight.”

* * *

 

They lie on the bed, Haruka resting his head on Makoto’s chest and Makoto putting an arm around him. The bed is a little small for the both of them, but the warmth is welcome.

Makoto breaks the comfortable silence between them. “Why didn’t you bring out the futon?”

Haruka squeezes their entwined hands. “...Too much effort.”

“You say that every time.”

Haruka hums, nuzzling up against Makoto’s chest. Makoto caresses his hair, thinking how soft and silky it feels every time, so unlike his own.

“...Haru?”

“Hm?”

 “You didn’t want me to submit that essay, did you.”

Haruka sighs. “...Maybe.”

“You said you handed it in for me.” Makoto had wondered then if Haruka read what he had written, but Haruka had remained impassive as always and said nothing about it. “...But then the teacher said he didn’t receive it, and you insisted that he misplaced it. Yours too.” Makoto remembers being upset about it, but Haruka assured him that it didn’t matter because his was lost too. Haruka was so stubborn about it that the teacher decided to drop it.

“I didn’t want you to submit it.” Haruka admits.

“Why?” Makoto asks, genuinely curious.

“...It’s because you wrote ‘Haru-chan’.”

“Oh...”

Haruka huffs. _Idiot Makoto._

“Did you write about me, Haru?”

“Yeah.”

Makoto feels his heart flutter. “What did you write about?”

“Makoto is an idiot.”

“That’s mean!”

Haruka yawns, and begins to produce light snores. Makoto sighs. He brushes Haruka’s bangs aside and places a kiss on his forehead.

“Good night, Haru-chan.” He whispers.

Makoto feels a smile against his chest.

* * *

_He has been with me for as long as I can remember. He has gentle green eyes and messy brown hair. He has a girly name like me. He likes to smile._

_He smiles when he says ‘good morning’ to me. He smiles when he offers me a hand out of the pool. He smiles for no reason. He’s an idiot. He smiles even when he’s worried about something. He’s so easy to read. He worries too much and keeps fussing over me. It’s so annoying. He worries so much, but he doesn’t worry enough about himself._

_He’s inconsiderate. He talks too much. Maybe because we’ve always been together, he can tell what I’m thinking. Of course, not all the time._

_He’s not kind. Even when I say I don’t want to do something, it always ends up going his way. He was the one who dragged me to the swim club. But since I get to be with the water, I guess it’s okay. If he’s happy about it for some reason, I guess it’s okay._

“Haru, what are you doing?”

Haruka shoves the book under his pillow as Makoto enters the room. Makoto looks at him curiously, but Haruka remains expressionless. “I’m going to take a bath.” He announces, standing up from the floor as Makoto approaches him.

“Hm? What’s that?”

Makoto spots a piece of paper sticking out from beneath the pillow and reaches behind Haruka to pull it out. Haruka grabs his hand, and when Makoto looks at him curiously he crushes his lips against the other’s in a bid to distract him.   

Makoto’s eyes widen, but his expression softens as he leans into the kiss.

“Don’t look.” Haruka mutters when he pulls back, face flushed. Haruka doesn’t want to show Makoto. It’s so bad as compared to what Makoto wrote. He has never been one who is good with words anyway. Maybe he will draw a picture for Makoto later.

“Okay.” Makoto simply smiles. The one line he saw is enough.

_I like seeing Makoto’s smile._

He promises to smile for Haru forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Parts of Haru's essay are adapted from canon interviews. He's always being so tsun tsun... Makoto's was so much easier to write. In High Speed! Haru usually times it so that he can meet up with Makoto and his smile. That's so sweet! 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


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